Sanding device for vehicles



April 22, 1930. L. HOPKINS SANDING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES Filed March 18, 1929 INVENTOR Loren LJYo vkv'J s'.

wfpm l/w w ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 22 1930 LOREN L. HbrxmsQor wnsrr nnw onx, NEW JERSEY SANDING DEVICE FOR vE rcLns Application filed March 18, 1829. Serial No. 347,798.

This invention is an improvement in o'er tain of the features of c'onstructlon of the invention broadly claimed in my priorand copending application Serial No.'127 8,381, filed 5 May 17, 1928. In my prior construction as well as in the present one there is provided a sand containerwhich is connected by a conduit to a nozzle located adjacent to one of the Wheels of the vehicle and having means for opening and closing the nozzle whereby the delivery of sand to the tire or in the path of the wheel may be controlled atwill'.

One object ofmy present invention is to facilitate the delivery of the sand from the container to the nozzle and provide a more direct pathv for thesand. To accomplish this resultI- mount the nozzle in a substantially vertical position so that the sand may flow from the container to the nozzle and through the latter in an approximately straight line and without. sharp angle bends which retard the flow..

- .A further object of the invention is to better insure the loosening of the sand in the nozzle at thetimev the latter is opened so that in case the sand has become caked it will be jarred loose and the flow started. To accomplish this result 'I mount the nozzle in such a way that it is given a bodily moveopened. If this movement be comparatively rapid, as would ordinarily be the case, the resulting jar'or shaking of the sand in the nozzle will tend to breaklup any caking'in case any should have occurred during a long period ofnon-use. Y

A further object of my invention is to better insure the closing of the nozzle so that the nozzle cannot be kept open by particles of sand, and thus leakage ofthe sand from the nozzle when the latter is supposed to be closed, is thereby prevented- To accomplish thisresult I providea closure member which instead of being hinged isfree floating and automatically seating.

A further object of the invention is 1 to prevent the entry into the nozzle of any water whichmay spatter up from the ground or be thrown onto the nozzle by the adjacent wheel or which may drip from the underside container.

ment' at 'the' same time that the nozzle is of the body of the-vehicle. I accomplish V I this result by'providing the nozzle with an annular groove or recess in the delivery end and encircling the delivery outlet-so that any water: striking the outside of the nozzle will drip therefrom without contacting with the closure or the edge of the outlet opening.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated merely one embodiment of my in vention. i

In these drawings: I Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus, certain of the parts-being shown in section and a portion of the vehicle being indicated somewhat diagrammatically; Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2-2 of Fig.1;and -Fig. 3 is a .central longitudinal section through the delivery nozzle. j I

In the construction illustrated there is provided a sandoontainer 1O which'is preferably formed of flexible waterproof material and sealed against the admission of air or moisture. 'By making the container flexible it maycollapse as sand is delivered therefrom and without an admissionof moist air to the Thus when the container is filled witgi dry sand the sand will remain dry until use I 1 r The container is preferably mounted withso in the body ofthe vehicle, and. at a point approximately above and in front of the wheel adjacent/to which the sand isto be delivered. 3- f The container when ready for use stands in an upright position and is detachably con-- nectedto a delivery conduit -11. which may extend throi'igh the floor of the vehicle. body. The coupling illustrated is substantially. the same as thatshown in my priorapplication and includes ahollow threaded boss 12 on the container adapted to enter'a union 13 on the end of the conduit. A cap may be screwed onto the boss to seal the container from the time the container is filled until it is connected 9. I

of'the vehiclebody; 10,0

The conduit at its lower end is secured to a delivery nozzle 15 which is preferably mounted below the running board B and ad- 7 j acent to the rear wheel C. As the device is intended to deliver sand for preventing lat eral skidding as well as to give better traction, the nozzle is preferably mounted at one side of the medialplane of'the wheel so that it will deliver most of the sand against or in the path of the tread at one side of the center of the latter. M

V In my improved construction this nozzle15 extends in a substantially vertical position and is pivotally'supported .on a cross arm 16 rigidly secured to a bracket 17 which latter may. be secured to the underside of the runningboard. The upper end, of the nozzle is connected by a wire or other flexible member 18 to a point adjacent the driver whereby upon 'operatin a suitable lever,- pedal or the like, 'theimem' er-l8 maybe-pulled to swing the latter end of thenozzle toward the wheel.

'The1nozzle 15 preferably rectangular in cross sec'tionand has a bottom wall 19 A which has a large sand outlet opening 20.

The bottom wall 19 isemounted above; the

lower end of the sidewalls ofthe nozzle and has a. depending flange 21 encircling theopen- 'ing yso: that there. is an annular groove or recess 22 open at its lower end and between the outlet 20 and the peripheral wall. Any water which strikes the nozzle and'trickles down the sides will thus drop:from the side walls and cannot flow across tov the closure or the wall of the opening'20. The closure is in the form of a plate 23 somewhat larger than the opening 20'and smaller than' the peripheral wall 15 so that it may lie against-the edge of the depending'flange21- and with its peripheral edge in the annular recess 22. -T his closure 23 is not hinged or otherwise directly connected tothe nozzle, but is held'in place by a coil spring 24 extending lengthwise of the nozzle. within the-latter and diagonally from the upper 'end of the nozzle to the closure adjacent to one edge of the latter. This same edge portion of the closure is connected by a V-shaped link having a transverse portion 25 journalled inthe closure and a'pair of side arms '26 extending along the outer side of the nozzle lengthwise of the latter to extensions 27 on thecross arm 16. The upper ends of the .links '26 are thus stationary while the lower ends'arelaterally movable as the nozzle swings upon thecross arm 16 as a stationary pivotal support.

' In Fig. 31 have shown the device in solid lines in normally closed position and have shown in dotted lines the position of the parts ager the nozzle has been swung for ashort distancetoward thewheel. It will be noted I thatduring this swinging movement ofthe nozzle the links 26 force the closure open against the action of'the spring i I have shown the nozzle swung to onlylashort'distance, but it will be evident that in practice the further the nozzle is swung the wider will the closure open. .Through the swinging movement which opens the closure the sand within the nozzle is jarred or shaken and at the same time the sand is agitated by the stretching of the spring 24- and by the lateral movement of the spring due tothe'swinging of the closure. Thus in case the sand has become caked it will be loosened to flow freely Asthe spring 24 is connected to the same side'of the'clos'ure as are the links 26 the opening movementof the closure will be sub- 'stan'tially the sameas though the opposite edge of the closure were hingedrto the nozzle, but preferably nohinge is employed. :If no hinge is -employed,the closure, when itv returns to closed position, will automatically seat and prevent further escape of sand. This would not be the case if the closure were hinged because a few grains of sand might catch between the closure and its seat adjacentlto the hinge. 'A very small amount of sand at this. point might hold the opposite edge of the.-closure open a short distance which would permit continuous loss of sand,

whereas by omitting the hinge no part of the closure will be opened to a greaterextent than the thickness of a grainof sand, and leakage will be entirely prevented.

It will be obvious that the construction illustrated in the drawing is one embodiment for each of the four wheels of the vehicle, and

it will also-be obvious that two or more of the nozzlesillustrated may be connected so as to draw sand from the single container'or other source of supply Having thus described invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure-by Letters iatent is: v I a 1. A sanding device for vehicles including a nozzle having a closure, a spring within the nozzle for normally holding the closure in closed position, means for swinging'the nozzle, and means for automatically opening the closure against thelaction of said spring during said swinging movement.

2.. A sanding device for vehicle wheels, in 1' eluding a substantially vertically disposed nozzle, a pivotal support therefor at one side of the'nozzle and adjacent to the upper end, said nozzle having anarm extending'laterally along one side thereof, a closure forthe lower end of the nozzle, a connection between said closure and the extremity of said arm for opening the closure during the swinging of the nozzle on its support,and a spring within the nozzle for normally holding the closure inclosed position and also normally holding the nozzle against swinging movement.

3. A sanding device for vehicle wheels including a pivoted nozzle, a pivoted closure for the end of the nozzle, and a spring for resisting swinging movement of the nozzle and opening movement of the closure, said spring being disposed withinthe nozzle and extending approximately lengthwise thereof.

4,-. A sanding device for vehicle wheels including a nozzle disposed in approximately vertical position, means for delivering sand to the upper end thereof,vand a closure for the spective of itsseating position at other edges of the opening.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 14th dayof March A. D. 1929.

LOREN L. HOPKINS.

lower end thereof, said lower end having an 6. A sanding device for vehicle wheels ineluding a nozzle disposed in a substantially vertical position and having a bottom wall within and above the lower end of the, peripheral wall and provided with an outlet opening encircled by a depending, flange, whereby an annular recess is formed around the outlet opening, and a closure for said 7 opening, said closure being disposed above the peripheral wall of the nozzle and with its peripheral edge in said recess.

7. A sanding device for vehicle wheels includinga nozzle disposed in a substantially vertical position and having a peripheral wall and a bottom wall, said bottom wall being disposed above and within the lower end of the peripheral wall and provided with anoutlet opening and a depending flange encircling said opening, and a closure above thelower edge of the peripheral wall and seating against the lower end of said flange.

8. A sanding device for-vehicle wheels including a nozzle disposed in a substantially vertical position and having a peripheral wall and a bottom wall, said bottom wall being dis- T posed above and within the lower end of the V peripheral wall and provided with an outlet opening and a depending flange encircling saidopening, a closure above the lower edge of the peripheral wall and seating against the lower end of said flange, and a spring within said nozzle and connected to said closure to serve as thesole means for connecting the 010- sure to the nozzle, whereby'the closure'may seat at any edge of the outlet opening irre- 

